We also tried Cosmic Crunch, vanilla ice cream with butterscotch, pecans and chocolate chips. It was pralines and cream--only better. The large chunks of pecan nicely balanced the creamy, sweet ice cream and butterscotch.

Serious Addiction could easily live up to its name. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate: ice cream, fudge and chocolate chips. It was strong and rich, but the bittersweet chocolate made it possible to eat a whole serving without thinking twice. The chunks of chocolate were soft and easy to chew.It reminds us of Ben & Jerry's New York ChocolateFudge Chunk. And the large chunks reveal that theice cream is, indeed, homemade.

The atmosphere is simple and unpretentious. Youcome for the ice cream and nothing else. Emack &Bolio's is located at 1726 Mass Ave. At $1.70 aserving, it could easily be your best buy.

The Mother Lode

Herrell's is the mother of homemade ice creamsin the Square.

Its lines are always long, and it's oftendifficult to find a place to sit--even with theexpanded seating in the old bank vault.

Their best selling Chocolate Pudding ice cream,while excellent, is only for the true chocolatelover. It's soft, thick and rich and made ofbittersweet chocolate. It could be difficult toeat an entire cup without a jug of water to gowith it.

Herrell's Cookies & Cream ice cream is uniquein the Square. As the manager told us, they don'tblend the Oreos into the vanilla ice cream. As aresult, the vanilla is pure and the large chunksof cookie are not as soft as at some other stores,like California Pizza Kitchen and Emack & Bolio's.The ice cream is, nevertheless, very good.

Herrell's is located at 15 Dunster St. At $1.95for a relatively small serving, Herrell's ispricey. But the ice cream is gourmet.

Head for the Border

The Church St. Cafe across from the Bordersells Steve's Ice Cream, the first creation of theowner of Herrell's. Like Baskin Robbins, Steve'sis mass-produced--so it's sweeter and less creamythan the homemade ice creams.

The Coffee Mud Pie is very strong. Only acoffee lover should venture a scoop. It's alsostickily sweet, with the fudge overpowering attimes.

The S'mores ice cream has a very good chocolateflavor, but not much more. There's no hint ofmarshmallow, and the graham crackers are nearlyimpossible to taste.

Along with Baskin Robbins, Steve's ispredictable and has more flavors than the otherice cream options in the Square.

Like a Box of Chocolates

Like Emack & Bolio's, The Chocolate Box isquite a hike from the Yard. But it's only twoblocks from the Porter Square T stop, five minutesfrom the Quad, and it sells Toscanini's ice cream.